5 comments:

i think no matter what you come up with whether it be good or bad in your opinion the local should be able to vote this time..not letting the membership vote last time just because the executive didn't like the proposal was wrong-we dont want your opinions just the facts and then your opinion goes on a ballot yes or no

A valid opinion, but there was nothing to vote on last time. There was no formal proposal and no agreement reached. It is true that the position taken by the wage delegates was that there could be no concessions on main wage items and the company would not back off of their demands for main wage concessions. This position by the wage delegates was a legitimate one because we are a part of the Wage Caucus that negotiated the collective agreement and that implies responsibilities to that contract.

how can it be said there was nothing to vote on when there was a list with 8 items on it from the company - with a deadline of nov 17th - how can powell river vote on their list of demands if they are in the same wage caucus and have the same collective agreement- they let their local come to a conclusion on ballets and we were told that nobody would be able to do so after we were not allowed so it seems not all locals are on the same page ..

I won't engage in a lengthy debate on this. You are entitled to your opinion. I will respond to your last comment though. Yes, there was a list of demands from the company but there was no agreement reached. You vote on agreements, not on company lists of demands.

The company also did not make the same concessionary demands of Powell River and their management team obviously were willing to talk with the union and negotiate. Ours was unwilling to negotiate last fall. What Local 76 voted on was an agreement reached with the company, not a list of demands.

Additionally, their negotiations allowed them to find a way to reach agreement without concessions made to main wage. Had they agreed to concessions on main wage I would be deeply disappointed in them and we would have dealt with it at caucus.

I will further state that thus far, the company here seems far more willing to negotiate this time than they did previously. And we are not dealing with concessions to main wage. Our position remains the same on this as it did last fall. However, that doesn't mean we can't reach some understandings on working differently that will provide benefit to the membership in terms of enhanced severance packages. That is our challenge.